Gun rest



Jan. 22, 1957 c. A. THOMPSON GUN REST Filed Jan. 17. 1955 INVENTOR. CARL A. THOMPSON ATmRNE) United States Patent GUN REST Carl A. Thompson, Yuba City, Calif.

Application January 17, 1955, Serial No. 482,100

4 Claims. (Cl. 224-1) The invention relates to improvements in gun supporting devices of the kind used by hunters and armed forces personnel.

It is an object of the invention to provide a gun rest which largely removes the weight of a shotgun or rifle from the arms of a hunter, thereby relieving him of fatigue and enabling him to remain alert for a longer period of time, and making it possible for the hunter to smoke or to reach for objects with both hands while still being ready to fire at an instants notice.

It is another object of the invention to provide a gun rest which enables the hunter easily to position his gun in the device and quickly to remove the gun from the device and place it in shooting position as the occasion for shooting arises.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a gun rest which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which has but few moving parts to get out of order.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a gun rest which can be quickly and easily yet firmly mounted on the belt of a hunter, and which can be as quickly and easily disengaged therefrom as required.

It is a yet further object of the invention to provide a gun rest which does not require the use of supplementary supporting straps or other impedimenta customarily found in devices of this nature.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a gun rest which is securely engageable to a belt and which eflectively resists dislodgment from the belt even when subjected to considerable movement of the hunters body.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a gun rest having game-holding links enabling a hunter to hang his game therefrom and obviating the necessity for the customary game belts or game pockets.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a generally improved gun rest.

Other objects, together with the foregoing, are obtained in the embodiment described below and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a perspective view of the gun rest.

Figure 2 is a vertical median section taken on the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a rear elevation showing the gun supporting cup in a position of maximum tilt in one direction.

Figure 4 is a front elevation, showing, in outline, the cup in a horizontal attitude and, in full line, the cup as it commences to engage the tilt warning block.

The gun rest of my invention is susceptible of numerous physical embodiments depending upon the particular environmental situation to be met, but substantial numbers of the embodiment illustrated have been made and used and have performed in the field in an eminently satisfactory manner.

The gun rest is customarily worn on the belt of a hunter and is usually worn displaced either to the right or to the left of the buckle of the hunters belt, depending The principal frame or supporting member of the de-l vice is a plate 11 having a vertical dimension'considerably in excess of the vertical dimension of the ordinary belt worn by hunters and is preferably of stiff material, at least over its uppermost portion. The plate, which is customarily worn in a vertical attitude on the belt, comprises an upper substantially horizontal edge 12 and a pair of spaced vertical edges 13 and 14, which curve inwardly adjacent their lower ends to form arcuate portions 15 and 16, respectively. The plate terminates in a lower depending portion 17 recurved outwardly and upwardly adjacent its lower edge to form a sleeve 18.

The smooth rounded surface of the sleeve 18 serves to prevent chafing or gouging by the lower end of the plate into the body of the wearer. The sleeve also serves to confine a shank 19 of strong, stiff wire terminating at its opposite ends in a substantially identical pair of game holding links 21 and 22, respectively, the wire being curved or formed to define an upper large loop 23 and a lower smaller loop 24. As a bird, for example, a pheasant, is shot and captured, the head of the pheasant is inserted through the large loop 23 and the neck of the bird pushed downwardly into the smaller loop 24,

the head being thereby effectively and securely confined.

While an equal number of birds in each of the loops will serve substantially to balance or equalize the gun rest on its belt support, an uneven weight of birds on one or the other of the game holding links tends to tilt the gun Provision is therefore made to overloops each comprise an upper leg 33 and a lower leg 34,

projecting rearwardly from the plate, the legs being joined by a central linear vertical portion 36. Preferably, the vertical linear portion 36 is spaced rearwardly from the plane of the plate a distance sufiicient to receive and accommodate any of the customarily encountered thicknesses of belting material. When a hunter desires to se'- cure the gun rest to his belt it is only necessary that the free end of the belt be threaded through the belt engaging loop-s 31 and 32 in the direction of the buckle and the belt buckle. Since the belt loops are located substantially vertically above the corresponding game engaging links, and since the belt loops are preferably disposed ad: jacent the outermost or side edges 13 and 14 of the plate, substantial resistance to angular displacement or turning of the gun rest plate is provided. Even though one or the other of the game links carries a considerably greater load than its mate, any weight on the link is exerted in the same vertical line as the corresponding weight-supporting belt loop and thus any tendency of the plate 11 to tilt:

is minimized.

Frequently, users of the gun rest, for example, soldiers,

prefer to remove the gun rest from time to time, for a period of rest or sleep, for example, and may find it the rear side of the plate adjacent the upper edge thereof and" depending downwardly in a vertica'llinear plane as most clearly appears in Figure 2. The belt engaging clip 40 is ofuconsiderably greater width measured in its edge to. edge dimension than" either of the belt loops; and is disposed. approximtely centrally between each ofthe' plate edges 13' and; Owing'to its width; the clipserves'as an" efiectiveretardant to angular displacement or tilting" of th'e plate in'its own plane, thus acting in a fashion quite likethe two'spaced beltloops Siland 3280 far as resistance totilting isconcerned; Resistance to dislodgmentand tilting 'is further providedby the location of a verti'cal depending portion 41 of the'clip" 40 andwhich isoutwardlydisplaced toward the plate from-the plane of the vertical portion" 36' of the two belt loops; and, as appears mostclearly in'Figure 2, the'clip isspa'ced from the plate so" as to engage frictionally belts of the ordinarilyused thicknesses. Thus, the-user, for example; ,a soldier, does not need to unbuckle' and thread-his belt through the loops but instead" needs only 'todeflect or bend outwardly "his belt adjacent the" clip 40 -sothat the belt is curved around the back sides of the two-belt loops and; in asinuous path, is curved outwardly for insertion into the space betweenthe undereneath orinner side of the belt clip and the plate. formed'b'y the belt-increases the tension on the belt-and enhancesthe' frictionalclampingeffect of the clipon-the belt; When; onthe-other hand, the belt isthreaded through the loops 31 and-32, the user may also prefer to take advantageofthe frictional clamping provided by the clip so' as to secure the gun resteven more securely on the -belt. Should the user thread the belt through the loops 31 and-'32 but bend the belt was to-pass the belt" behind theclip, that is, toward the'users "body, the

sinuous-path created-by virtue of the inwardly projectingclip 'increasesthe belt tension and thus the-holding force of the' loops:

w-ithrespect to the loops'a-ndtthe clip efiects a very secure mounting against tilting and-dislodgment.

Support-to the. gun butt is provided by'a gun cupid; or gun butt receptacle, elongatedin shape and, in horizontal'attitude, projecting somewhat beyond each of the vertical sides-13 and 14 of the plate. The cup-51 mmprises afront wall 52 and a rear wall 53, both ofwhich may'conveniently be slightly tapered inwardly adjacent thelower portionsof the' wallsso as more easily torecelveiand guide downwardly'the gun butt; Theopposite endss56=andi57 of -th'e cup arerounded to" conform gen-- erally-ito the shape of the gun butt and the bottom 58 of th e' 'cup J's-ordinarily provided with a. plurality of'holes 59 to drain any moisture from the cup which mightother wise collect-therein. Serving as a guide to the hunter in inserting-the gun butt-withinthe-cup is arr-overhanging lip--6'1 =whichprojects in an-outward directionon-the front side of the-cup and inwardlyor toward the plate on the rearcside-of the'cup. The portion of the lip 61' adjacent the plate'is spaced from the plate and at no time are tionally engages with 'the plate. While thecup mayconveniently. be-fabrica'tcd from some sound deadening material such as-plastic, yet, in the event the plate and cup were to'be" fabricated from metal, the spacing betweenthe=cup and plate herein provided avoids any possibility ofla scratching noise-which might-serve-to alert any game ly mountedonxthegplate-by arivet, generally designated The sinuous path" thereby As a result of the centrally disposed-andfriotionally'engaging belt clip any arrangement of'the belt 71. The rivet comprises a central shank 72 terminating at its" inner end in an inner rivet 'head '73 in abutment with the inner side of the plate and, at its outer end, in an enlarged portion 78 providing a shoulder 74. Confined between the outer side of the plate and the shoulder 74 is an elongated rectangular block 76. The enlarged portion 78 of the rivet terminates at its outer end in an outer rivet head 79. A beveled-opening 81, or aperture, in the inner wall of the cup, andtsurroundiug the enlarged rivet portion 78 and outer rivet head 79, permits the cup to be freely tiltedwithirespect to the rivet.

While the-block 76 is extremely eilective to stiffen the adjoining'wa'lls of the cup and of the plate it serves another and highly usefulfunetion .in that as the cup is tilted approximately 15 to 20 degrees from the horizontal and to the position shown most clearly in full line in Figure 4, the overhanging lip 61 of the cup which is adjacent the plate comes into abutment or contact with the adjacent .corner .of the rectangular elongated block 76. Between the horizontal attitude of the cup shown in outline in Figure 4 and the inclined attitude shown in full line 'in Figure 4, the cup is freely tiltable or rotatable owing to the loose fit between opening 81 in the cupwall and the enlarged-portion 78 and outer head 79 of the rivet. Upon abutment between the lip overhang 61 and the block 76, however, any further inclination or tilting of the cup causes a corresponding tilting or rotation of the block 76. Since the block 76 is tightly held to the plate, owing. to the forcev exerted thereon by the shoulder 74 of the rivet and the plate held by the inner head 73 .of the rivet, very considerable resistance to angular displacement of the block is encountered. Consequently, as thehunter tiltshis gun to a position which results in the cupls tilting or tipping beyond the position shown in .fullline in Figure4and .toward the cup and block position shown in Figure 3, a definite resistance to further turning .isfelt by the. hunter. The resistance felt serves asa warning to the hunter that .his gun .is tipping to a position somewhat more than the dictates of safe hunting procedures would permit. Thisindication to the hunter serves'to warn him to return his gunto a more nearly upright. position, and thus to a safer barrel attitude.

In the event,.however, that the. hunter desires to place his gun in a still lower angular position or attitude, or, if he inadvertently. fails to ,heedthe warning given him by the increased resistance to turning occasionedby the block, thecupwill be brought to. a ,full stop ina position indicated :in full .line in Figure 3. As the cup assumes the attitude shown in Figure 3, the bottom inner edge of the cupimpinges against .one or the otherof an out-turned pair of tabs91,.formedmostconveniently by-punching or striking outvfrom the plate. The stop, therefore, serves positively to limit .to a-predeterrnined safe amount, the maximum angle vof. gun tilt.

It is to be recognized that if the tilt warning feature of the block is not desired bythe user, the blocks cup-spacing and :stifiening functions-could be added to by indenting inwardly the plate over an area .and to a depth sufficient to accept-or receive the block for at least a fraction of the blocks thickness.- With thisconstruction the block would not only continue. to serve as a spacer and as a cup and platestitlener, but would also serve as a positive step as the inner. cup lip '61- comes into abutment with the corner of the block.

Owning .to the: symmetry ofparts, .ineither construction, the cup is capable otbeing tilted .ineither direction, as is most clearly shown by the arrow 96 in Figure 4, and thus both right and left-handed hunters can use the gun rest with .equalfacility.

What is claimed is:

l. A gun rest comprising a plate vertically mountable on a belt, the vertical dimension of said plate being substantially in excessof the vertical dimension of said belt; a pair: of vertical, paralleLspacedloops mounted on the inner side of saidlplateadjacent the vertical edges thereof; a belt confining clip depending from the upper edge of said inner side of said plate intermediate said pair of loops and displaced toward said plate from the plane of said pair of loops; a pair of tabs mounted on the-outer side of said plate and projecting outwardly therefrom; an elongated cup, means for pivotally mounting said cup on the outer 'side of said plate for tilting movement about a horizontal axis normal to the plane of said plate from a horizontal attitude to an angular attitude inclined with respect to the horizontal and determined by abutment between said cup and the adjacent of said pair of tabs; and a friction block surrounding said pivot means and engaging said cup and said plate whereby the angular motion of said cup is characterized by substantial resistance to rotation.

2. A gun rest comprising a plate, a pair of elongated belt-engaging loops mounted on the back side of said plate, a belt clip parallel to and interposed between said loops and mounted on said plate, an elongated cup pivotally mounted on the front side of said plate and tiltable about a pivot axis within a predetermined angle to tilt with respect to an attitude normal to said clip and said loops, a pair of tabs out-turned from the front side of said plate, said tabs limiting the angle of tilt of said cup by abutment therewith, a block interposed between said cup and said plate in tight frictional engagement with said plate and said cup, said block being co-axially mounted with said cup on said plate, and a lost motion connection between said cup and said block for impelling rotation of said block with said cup during a portion only of the tilting of said .cup.

3. A gun rest comprising a plate vertically mountable on a belt, a first belt engaging means mounted on the inner side of said plate, a second belt engaging means on the inner side of said plate, said first and said second belt engaging means being disposed in cooperative relation to resist vertical dislodgment of said plate from the belt and angular displacement therefrom, a gun butt receptacle pivotally mounted on the outer side of said plate, means for positively limiting the angular displacement of said receptacle from a horizontal attitude relative to said plate, and means for frictionally retarding the free angular displacement of said cup as said cup approaches said positive limiting means.

4. A gun rest comprising a mounting plate, belt clips on said mounting plate, a gun butt cup, means for pivotally connecting said gun butt cup adjacent to the center thereof to said plate, a friction block surrounding said connecting means and engaging said cup and said plate, means on said cup spaced from said block a predetermined distance but coplanar with said block for forming a lost motion connection between said cup and said block, and tabs projecting from said plate into the path of said cup and spaced therefrom a distance greater than said predetermined distance.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 633,550 Hoffman Sept. 19, 1899 2,543,703 Pelto Feb. 27, 1951 2,576,624 Miller Nov. 27, 1951 2,620,082 Harman Dec. 2, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 56,690 Austria Dec. 10, 1912 

